MYRIAM CASANOVA

*Swiss Girl Myriam Casanova is the raiser of the year: The 17 year old raised from spot 342 to 79 at the wta-world ranking from January until now, and she keeps working!

Her favourite player is Martina Hingis. And whilst it took Martina 28 Tournaments to be announced as a winner, Myriam needed only three to raise her first cup at Brussels in July 2002.

Melanie Molitor, mother and coach of Martina Hingis, discovered the talent of Casanova, as she watched her playing at the age of 12. She offered Leo Casanova, Myriams father, to train his two daughters, Myriam and the one year older Daniela, together with Martina, and of course, he accepted.

She reached the final at her very first wta tournament at Budapest this year, beating Eleni Daniidilou at the semis, and qualified for Wimbledon on her 17th birtday, dropping only 13 games in 3 qualifiying matches. There she beat Nagyova and Schett and only lost to Justine Henin in round three. Next she went to Brussels, and she did not win that tournament because of an easy draw. On her way to the final vs. Sanchez Vicario she beat Torrens Valero, Ruano Pascual and the complete german Fed-Cup Team, A. Barna and Martina Müller! At the US-Open Myriam lost at round 2 to Lisa Raymond.

Swiss Fed Cup Coach, and former coach of Capriati and Anke Huber, Zoltan Kuharzsky says there are not limits for the 1.70 meters tall girl. "She just hates to loose" he knows. Kuharszky is booked exclusively for 50 days of the year by the Casanova sisters.

Myriam already won more than $ 50.000 in 2002, but thats far to less to cover the costs of $ 200.000, what Leo Casanova spent for his daughters only this year! And so the former soccer pro founded an investor group who will participate on Myriams possible success. The career of her sister Daniela has been interrupted by a foot-inflammation, earlier this year.

Myriam has beaten M. Bartioli and L. Carralho at the qualification rounds and Tatiana Poutchek 6-4, 4-6 and 7-6 today at Brasil to gain the honour to play JELENA DOKIC for the first time in her life.

I watched the girl from Altstatten playing at the European U18 championships in Klosters/Switzerland earlier this year and seen a very agressive player who always tried to come to the net, with an incredibly bad second serve and slightly to much weight......

"Melanie Molitor tells me all the things tactically and technical. I call her before my matches in the evening and ask her what to do against my opponent, and she can tell me many things. But I ask also other Swiss players like Patty Schnyder, and they tell me a things about them." Myriam Casanova